Watchung Hills Regional High School school board awaits final word on budget cuts

WARREN TWP. — As the school year wraps up, the Watchung Hills Regional High School Board of Education is still awaiting final word on its budget — or rather the amount that will be cut from its budget and the corresponding tax levy.

When voters in Long Hill, Warren Township and Watchung voted against the district’s $34.62 million budget, of which $26.6 million was to be raised by taxes, everything was left in limbo. Each of these three towns’ governing bodies had to meet and come up with a figure to cut the budget, or they could choose not to cut it. Having established their own numbers, representatives of each of these bodies had to meet and agree upon a single figure, then pass identical resolutions on the cut.

At Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Frances Stromsland said there have been “two meetings with the subcommittee” and that the amount of the cut and recommendations on where to make those cuts should be resolved by Thursday, May 14.

On Wednesday, Somerset Executive County Superintendent of Schools Trudy Doyle said the towns must certify the tax levy and file it with the county superintendent's office and the Somerset County Tax Office by Wednesday, May 19. "We're hoping we get this resolved soon," she added.

The school board then has three choices. It can accept the new tax levy and the proposed cuts; it can accept the new tax levy and make other cuts than those recommended by the governing bodies, or it can appeal the tax levy and cuts to the Commissioner of Education.

Because of all the changes this year, the district has until June 30 to finalize the details of the budget, but that does not change the tax levy, said Doyle.

Gerry Binder, who represents Green Brook on the board, questioned the process of coming up with the figure to cut and asked about public input. The next opportunity for the public to comment upon the cut to the budget’s bottom line and the proposed cuts in expenses, will come at the board’s next meeting, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 25, at the high school, in the media center.